This
article
first appeared in a thread on theWoodNet
woodworking forum. It was compiled and reproduced here for easier public consumption.
All
Text are the property of Greg Jones.

Someone on another
forum asked about an X-Y vise on this machine and I realized that I had never
posted here what I did to set mine up.

I've seen several
mortisers converted to handle an X-Y vise and most do so by raising the head
with some type of wood table and extension. Those who have done this seem to
get by fine with them, but I was concerned about flex so I converted my Delta
14-651 a little differently. The Delta comes with one riser block and I bought
two more. With two blocks installed, the head is within 1/2" of the height of
the stock configuration. Adding the third riser gets it to the same height as
the stock configuration with one riser installed. This required new bolts to
work and I found stainless 130mm and 180mm 8x1.25 bolts for the two and three
riser configurations.

The vise is a
HF 4" model, with the slide flipped so I can operate both slides with my left
hand while operating the mortiser with my right hand. The top slide was also
flipped end for end and drilled and tapped to put the slide and vice cranks
on the same end.

All in all, I
ended up with a very nice setup without too much investment. I bought the Delta
at Amazon's blow-out last year for $142, the two risers were $25 each, the vise
was $30, and the bolts were around $25 (at BoltDepot.com). That puts the total
at right under $250, which is where the Amazon price is today for just the 14-651.
While I am well pleased with how this turned out, I'd look at other options
before converting a 14-651 at today's prices. This is a great system for under
$250 like what I have invested, but there are plenty of other options to explore
when you are talking $350+.